Lea Foerster

Classroom

Boasting a cumulative GPA of 3.77, Lea Foerster was a CoSIDA second-team Academic All-America selection in 2017, has twice been named Academic All-Big Ten, and was also a 2017 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and NFCA Scholar-Athlete. She is a four-time Derek Jeter Scholar, a Kalamazoo Alumni Scholar and a Jack and Ingrid Endowed Scholar in the 2017-18 school year. She has been on the dean’s list in six of seven semesters, earning perfect 4.0 semester GPAs twice (Fall 2014, Spring 2017). She will earn her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in May 2018.

Character

Foerster is well-liked and respected as a leader not only as a member of the softball team, but also in the larger campus community. She is on the Student-Leadership Team for Michigan State’s Athletes in Action chapter, facilitating and planning weekly team Bible studies and engaging in one-on-one mentoring with younger student-athletes. She is a member of MSU’s Athletic Director Student Leadership Team and participated in the Ultimate Training Camp in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Long Beach, California. She is a member of her team’s Leadership Council, consisting of five student-athletes (one from each class, plus a wild card selection) in lieu of traditional team captains.

Community

A member of her team’s leadership council, the outreach chair of both MSU’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and chapter of Athletes in Action, Foerster has participated in countless activities in the MSU and Lansing communities as well as participating in larger outreach activities like a mission trip to Cape Town, South Africa (Dec. 11- 21, 2015), and a Houston hurricane relief trip in the fall of 2017. With MSU, she has participated in Operation Christmas Child, has annually adopted a needy family for the Christmas holidays, read at March is Reading Month, participated in an Adaptable Trick or Treat for disabled children, was a Dare Graduation speaker, volunteered at Youth Haven Ranch and Afterschool Kids Club for disadvantaged youth, participated in a Chicago prison outreach, and been a guest speaker for both high schools and churches.

Competition

A four-year starter in center field, Foerster is a 2017 second-team NFCA All-American and a two-time All-Big Ten selection (2015 Second Team, 2017 First Team), and led the Big Ten and the nation in doubles in 2017 with 26. She is the career recordholder at MSU in doubles and runs scored, ranks second in career batting average and extra-base hits, sixth in career home runs, and ninth in career base hits, and she owns single-season records in runs and extra-base hits. Foerster will graduate as one of the most decorated and prolific players in program history as she closes in on several other career records and is poised to lead a veteran team in 2018.